.Ws 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




DDDD44Lf'^7t,^ 



(iiT'KiTTfl-TrTr.-F^ =.-^ 







JUDGE WHITE'S ADDI 
AN APPENDIX. 



AN 



ADDRESS, 



DELIVERED AT IPSWICH, 



BEFORE 



THE ESSEX COUNTY LYCEUM, 



AT THEIR 



FIRST ANNUA L IVI E E T I N G, 



May 5, 1830. 



BY DANIEL APPLETON WHITE. 



" What is a man, 
*' If Ilia cliiof good, and markut of his time, 
" Be hut to sleep, and feed > A heast, no more. 
"Sure, he, that made us" with such largo discourse, 
" Looiting hefore, and after, gave us not 
'• That capabilitv and godiiiie reason, 

*' To fust in us unused." ^''''^*****'^« 

Shakspeare. •• . ' '^ .-^..^ 



'«.•. 



SALEM : 

FooTE & Brown, Printers — Court Ftreet. 

1830. 






tB*02 



ADDRESS. 

I CONGRATULATE you, iny friends, upon the pre- 
sent meeting, as the result of your successful exer- 
tions to establish Lyceums in your respective towns, 
and to form a County Association to co-operate with 
them, in the noble work of mutual improvement and 
the diffusion of useful knowledge. 

In this Introductory Address, nothing more will 
be attempted, than to offer some remarks upon the 
design of Lyceums, their leading objects and advan- 
tages, the value of knowledge, the importance of ed- 
ucation, especially self-education ; and to glance at 
a few of the great variety of topics, which may be 
usefully discussed or investigated in these institu- 
tions. 

As the Essex County Lyceum owes its existence 
to the local Lyceums of which it is the representa- 
tive, so it is especially designed to advance their in- 
terests and usefulness. This it will be enabled ef- 
fectually to do, in the simple manner pointed out in 
its constitution ; the principal object of which is to 
provide for keeping up a friendly intercourse be- 
tween the several Town Lvceums, within the Coun- 
ty, and for collecting from all of them, as well as 
from other sources, such valuable facts and infor- 
mation, as may be usefully transmitted, in a sytem- 
atized form, to each Lyceum in return, that each 



may thus be possessed of a full knowledge of the 
means and methods of instruction, the experience, 
proceedings and prospects of all the rest. 

Much advantage and satisfaction may result from 
such an interchange of information and good offices. 
In addition to the direct aid and encouragement, af- 
forded to the local Lyceums by the intercommuni- 
cation of Lectures and otherwise, it will serve to 
extend over the County the beneficial influence of a 
liberal intercourse and fellowship between gentle- 
men of different occupations, habits, and connexions 
in society. Among the numerous benefits to be de- 
rived from Lyceums, this is not the least important 
or interesting. It is truly gratifying to see assem- 
bled, on the present occasion, without distinction of 
sect or party, enlightened and liberal promoters of 
the public welfare. This is as it should be. 
Friends to the same valuable objects, actuated by 
the same generous motives, ought to enjoy the privi- 
lege of uniting their counsels and efforts for the gen- 
eral good. This enlarges the circle of their social 
affections and rational enjoyments, while it multiplies 
and extends their means of usefulness. We might 
well rejoice in the establishment of Lyceums, were 
they attended with no other advantages than bring- 
ing together, for a valuable purpose, individuals of 
various professions, pursuits, and opinions, and pro- 
ducing a cordial co-operation among those who are 
too apt to become estranged from each other, in 
consequence of different sentiments and views on 
some important subjects. All our great and essen- 
tial interests, as members of society, are held in 



common ; and whatever associations serve to excite 
a common feeling of attachment to them, and com- 
mon efforts to preserve and improve them, to sup- 
press the growth of unkind prejudices, and make us 
think, and feel, and act, as, what we really are, 
brethren of one great family, must be blessings to 
the whole community. 

Some of those who have been eminently instru- 
mental in the establishment of Lvceums have extend- 
ed their views more widely, connecting with these 
institutions arrangements for the promotion of popu- 
lar education throughout the country, and contem- 
plating a great American Lyceum, constituted from 
the various local Lyceums, as its branches. These 
comprehensive views manifest a laudable zeal in the 
cause of education, and it is to be hoped that the en- 
lightened exertions, to which they may lead, will be 
crowned with success. But Lyceums, though sus- 
taining a friendly connexion for their mutual benefit, 
are independent of each other, as to their own pro- 
ceedings and regulations. The immediate and main 
concern of the members of each association must be 
with themselves, to enlighten and improve their own 
minds, and, in doing this, to diffuse the blessings of 
knowledge around them. For this purpose, they 
will of course adopt such measures as are suited to 
their own situation and circumstances, and best cal- 
culated to awaken attention to the means of know- 
ledge which they possess, to elicit the instruction 
which is important and interesting to themselves, 
and to excite a taste and desire for it. 

Lyceums are not intended to supersede, or inter- 



6 

fere with any existing institutions or means of edu- 
cation, but to exert an influence in co-operation with 
them all ; nor are they Hmited in their plans of in- 
struction to particular branches of knowledge or sci- 
ence, or to particular descriptions of people, but the 
whole range of human knowledge is open to them, 
and all who desire solid information or rational en- 
tertainment, are invited to partake of it. 

Thus are they designed to supply a pressing pub- 
lic want, created by the circumstances of the times 
in which we live 5 and the establishment of them is in 
full accordance with the spirit of our wise and prac- 
tical forefathers, who were in no respect more re- 
markable, than for extending their views of education, 
as the public good required. They brought from the 
mother country, as to education as well as jurispru- 
dence, such principles only as were useful and ap- 
plicable in their situation here, and afterwards 
increased their means of instruction, as their neces- 
sities demanded, till they built up that system of 
free schools, which has been justly regarded as the 
glory of New-England. These schools, together 
with their cherished University, satisfied all their 
wants as to education. Incessantly occupied in the 
active duties of life, they had, in general, little 
leisure for intellectual pursuits, beyond what con- 
sisted in perusing the Bible. This, how^ever, they 
studied so thoroughly, as not only to acquire that 
"wisdom and knowledge" which was "the stabili- 
ty of their times," and that strength of principle and 
moral energy, which sustained them in every exi- 
gency, but to make attainments in the knowledge of 



/ 



human nature, and the practical philosophy of hfe, 
of which the superficial readers of that sacred 
volume of various history, and sublime sentiments 
and truths, can have no conception. 

But the times have changed, and, with them, the 
whole face of society. With a wonderful increase of 
population, and a vast accession to the objects of 
general pursuit and inquiry, the desire of various 
knowledge has abounded, as well as the number of 
those whose leisure enables them to indulge such a 
desire, or exposes them to the temptations of folly, 
dissipation, and vice. In such a state of things, 
something is required in addition to our ordinary 
schools and institutions of learning ; something more 
general, various and popular, calculated to be attrac- 
tive and useful to persons of every age and condition 
in life. We are in want of institutions for improve- 
ment, which would combine instruction with enter- 
tainment, in a manner so convenient, as to be acces- 
sible to all classes of the community, and so interest- 
ing as to engage universal attention, to satisfy the in- 
quisitive, to rouse the idle, to teach the frivolous to 
think, to arrest the heedless in their career of dissi- 
pation, and draw them from inebriating pleasures 
and degrading amusements, to the pursuits of sober 
industry and intellectual enjoyment. Such institu- 
tions Lyceums are designed to be ; and, as such, 
they claim the patronage of the public, and the 
cheering support of all good men. Formed by the 
voluntary association of those who are attracted by 
a love of science or literature, a desire for general 
information, or a wish to be agreeably entertained, 



8 

nnitins the studious and the active, the learned 
scholar and the man of the world, aided too by the 
presence and influence of woman, so essential to the 
success of good undertakings ; and accustomed, in 
all their discussions and exercises, to the contempla- 
tion of useful and elevating subjects of thought, 
which furnish also rich topics for general conversa- 
tion, these associations, wherever they may exist and 
be sustained, cannot fail to promote the well-being of 
society as well as the gratification and improvement 
of individuals. While they remain true to their 
principles, and pursue with vigor the objects for 
which they are formed, their whole tendency and in- 
fluence must be, to multiply the resources for ration- 
al amusement and recreation, to introduce, among 
all classes of people, a higher tone of conversation, 
a more frank and liberal interchange of sentiments ; 
to raise the standard of literary and moral taste, to 
excite a greater love of science, a deeper sense of 
the value of truth and virtue, to expand the social 
and kind affections, and to promote the growth of 
that practical wisdom, which is the highest prize of 
intelligence and learning. All these objects are em- 
braced in the great and immediate design of Lyce- 
ums, the cultivation and diflfusion of useful know- 
ledge ; that knowledge, which is conducive to our 
highest welfare, as intelligent, moral, and social 
beings. 

But, before we enter upon a more particular con- 
sideration of this part of our subject, it may be prop- 
er to notice certain objections, which have occasion- 
ally been made to these institutions, though, we trust, 
they are disappearing, and will soon cease to exist, 



being founded in a misapprehension of the true na- 
ture and character of Lyceums. 

Fears have been expressed by some, that associ- 
ations, so numerous and extensive, may become 
dangerous to our civil and religious liberties, by 
leading to combinations, or parties, hostile to the 
interests of the people at large. But the design of 
Lyceums is altogether of a beneficent and public 
nature. They can have no concealed plans or ope- 
rations, nor any purposes whatever, w^hich do not 
alike concern the whole people. They are created, 
not by election under party influences, but by a 
voluntary association of individuals from all the va- 
rious parties and sects in the community, for objects 
approved by all, and the members are held together, 
not by any secret or permanent tie, but purely by 
the common desire of uniting their efforts in well- 
doing. It must, therefore, be manifest to every 
candid mind acquainted with the subject, that Ly- 
ceums, in addition to all other good effects, are ad- 
mirably adapted to soften party asperities of every 
description, to produce a sympathy of feeling for 
worthy purposes only, to call into exercise the be- 
nevolent aflfections, to promote public spirit, and to 
strengthen attachment to the free institutions of our 
common country. 

Others have entertained fears, that these associ- 
ations may have an injurious effect upon some of 
their own members, by enticing them from their or- 
dinary occupations, interrupting their industrious 
habits, and giving them in return a mere smattering 
of learning, which is worse than useless ; imagining, 
2 



10 

with the poet, that " a Utile learning is a danger- 
ous thing." But, in our community certainly, , 
there is too much good sense prevailing among the 
people, on this subject, to justify such apprehen- 
sions. They neither expect, nor desire, in these in- 
stitutions, courses of learned lectures on abstruse 
branches of science, beyond their ability to compre- 
heiid or apply to a valuable purpose. The know- 
ledge, which is most desirable to them, is that gen- 
eral acquaintance with the v^orks and laws of the 
material world, which tends to elevate and enlarge 
the mind; and that perception of their own nature, 
duties, and means of happiness, which may assist 
them in improving their condition in life, and ad- 
vancing themselves in moral and intellectual excel- 
lence. Is not a little of this sort of learning better 
than none? Is not much of it desirable? This, 
indeed, is conceded. Let then every institution for 
producing and disseminating it be encouraged. Fear 
not that this will tend to disturb the sober habits of 
industry among any portion of the people. Every 
acquisition of useful knowledge, every exercise of 
the mental faculties to obtain it, will, on the con- 
trary, serve to confirm those habits, to give juster 
views of moral obligation and the duties of social 
life, and to prevent that heedless dissipation, which, 
in a greater or less degree, inevitably results from 
the idleness of leisure hours. 

Others again, who fear no particular evil conse- 
quences from the introduction of Lyceums, affect to 
regard them as useless, and, like some other great 
societies and Utopian projects of the day, little more 



11 

than a vain parade, as the name itself would seem 
to indicate. But vvh)' are they useless? Because 
knowledge may be better obtained from books than 
from lectures, especially since books have become 
so cheap and abundant. But are there not many 
who are still unable to procure the books necessary 
for affording them the variety of information, which 
they desire, even had they time to peruse them? 
Are there not many, too, unaccustomed to the prac- 
tice of reading, who, from the habit of listening to 
discourses, would derive essential benefit from lec- 
tures? Would not many, who abound in books 
more than in leisure for reading them, gladly accept 
from a lecture what might cost them many hours to 
find in books? Might not all receive, in this way, 
valuable hints, and a salutary mental excitement?* 
And is not the multiplicity of books, in itself, a 
great evil to those who cannot discriminate between 
the good and the bad, between those which improve 
and those which corrupt the mind? Has not a 
flood of worthless publications swept away, or 
buried out of sight, works of real value, on which 
past generations had fixed the stamp of merit? Are 
not many of the most fascinating volumes of the 
day fraught with pollution to the mind of the youth- 
ful reader? Will not the indiscriminate perusal of 
them vitiate the taste and imagination, prevent hab- 
its of thought and reflection, without which all read- 
ing is useless ; and create a disinclination, if not a 



^ The late eminent Dr. Ru?!) sajs, (Essays, &c. p. 47.) '' The peifcctioii 
of the ear. as an avenue to knowledge, is nut sufficiently known. Itlcjis ac- 
quired through that organ are much more durable than those acquired by 
the eyes." 



mental disability, for that close attention and sus- 
tained effort, without which no real progress in sci- 
ence or knowledge can be expected? If so, may it 
not be among the important uses of Lyceums, to di- 
rect and assist the young in the selection of books 
for reading and study? May they not thus aid in 
promoting a more correct taste and better habits in 
reading, together with more improving conversation, 
sounder principles of morality, and higher motives 
of conduct? The very circumstances, therefore, 
which might seem to form an objection to these as- 
sociations, really constitute a strong argument in 
their favor. 

The name which they have so generally adopt- 
ed might, indeed, savor of pretension, if it were 
supposed to be taken from the splendid Lyceums 
in some of the cities of Europe 5 but when we 
look back to its origin, the application of it, in 
the present instance, appears to be remarkably ap- 
propriate. The Lyceum, it will be recollected, 
was a place at Athens where Aristotle and other 
philosophers were accustomed to discourse with 
their pupils on subjects of science and useful know- 
ledge, as the Academy was where Plato and his 
disciples assembled for a similar purpose. So the 
AthensBum and Gymnasium were places of resort, 
at the same celebrated city, for intellectual and 
athletic exercises. All these terms have been vari- 
ously applied to modern institutions, but never, per- 
haps, more appositely than in the case before us. 
The design of our Lyceum is not dissimilar to that 
of the philosophic meetings at Athens, though its 



13 

objects of inquiry have, of course, multiplied with 
the advance of science and knowledge. Guided by 
the light which has come down to us from those 
ancient sages and their successors in wisdom, we 
may hope to arrive at results as useful and interest- 
ing, as were attained in the Grecian Lyceum or 
Academy* 

But whatever may be thought of the name in ques- 
tion, and it can be of little consequence, while we 
find it both convenient and agreeable, the institution 
itself has all possible simplicity and plainness, in its 
design and arrangements. It aims at no quixotic 
undertakings. It aspires to no prizes of distinction 
or fame. All splendid achievements are left for 
more ambitious and adventurous associations. The 
great work of those who constitute a Lyceum, is 
the improvement of themselves ; their loftiest am- 
bition, to add something to the improvement of so- 
ciety, and their only reward is in the accomplish- 
ment of their work. 

But though the design of Lyceums is thus simple, 
it is comprehensive, and embraces objects of the 
highest interest, which deserve the united and per- 
servering exertions of all intelligent men. What can 
be more worthy of such exertions than the culture 
of the mind, the attainment of real knowledge, the 
pursuit of truth and moral excellence? What is 
it, indeed, that truly constitutes man? Is it any- 
thing which he has in common with the lower ani- 
mals? What demands his constant care, his most 
strenuous efforts? Can it be his animal nature, the 
adornment of his person, or the indulgence of his 



14 

senses and appetites? In these respects, will not 
many of the lower animals be able to surpass him, 
bv the superior beauty of their wardrobe and a purer 
enjoyment of the pleasures of sense ; pleasures, 
which to them never cloy? In such a competition 
he must surely fail. Taking no benefit of his own 
reason, and not being blest with brute instinct, how 
is it possible he should not sink below the mere ani- 
mal? Something of a nobler nature is wanted to sat- 
isfy man. The happiness, which is worthy of him, 
must be suited to his higher capacities of enjoyment, 
must partake of mind, and be built upon knowledge 
and virtue. These, then, demand his chief care, his 
never ceasing efforts ; and, with these, all his other 
pleasures become rational and satisfactory. This, 
indeed, is familiar truth ; it is old truth, but mo- 
mentous as it is old. In every age of the world it 
has been inculcated, acknowledged, and practically 
disregarded. A constant struggle has been kept up 
between virtue and vice, knowledge and ignorance, 
mind and body. Here, allow me to give you the 
thoughts of a celebrated Roman author, whose 
works have been admired for nearly two thousand 
years, and whose sentiments must fall upon your 
minds with weight. 

" It is incumbent on all men, who aspire to rank 
above the other animals, to exert their highest pow- 
ers, and not pass their lives in obscurity, hke the 
beasts of the field, which are created to look down- 
ward and to be subject to bodily appetites. Our 
nature is composed of both mind and body. The 
former is for government 5 the latter for subjection. 



15 

The one allies us with the gods ; the other with the 
hrutes. Wherefore, we ought to seek the distinc- 
tion which arises from exertions of the mind, rather 
than the body ; and, since hfe is short, strive to live 
as long as possible in the memory of posterity. 
Beauty and riches are frail and fleeting; but know- 
ledge and virtue are refulgent and eternal. Yet, 
what multitudes do we find passing through life, ig- 
norant and uncultivated, buried in sloth, and slaves 
to appetite ! Through a perversion of their nature, 
thought becomes a burden to them, and sensual in- 
dulgence is their sole gratification. Whether such 
creatures crawl upon the earth, or sink into the 
grave, is of no moment. But that man appears 
truly to live, and to enjoy an intellectual being, 
whose mind is worthily occupied, and who seeks the 
reputation of some useful employment, or the glory 
of illustrious deeds. "^' 

Such were the sublime thoughts of this ancient 
sage, while the world around him was immersed in 
the darkness of idolatry, and his ovv^n views of a fu- 
ture existence had not extended beyond the mere 
memory of posterity ; and while the human mind 
had not yet unfolded the one half of its native ener- 
gies. What might he not have said, had the divine 
light of Christianity beamed upon his mind, and 
disclosed to him its immortality? How would his 
admiration of the extent and dignity of the human 
intellect have been raised, had he witnessed its 
power to penetrate into the recesses of nature, and 

* Sail. Bell. Cat. 1. 



16 

develope the most subtle laws of the material and 
intellectual world ; and to ascend the highest heavens, 
reveal the secrets of the stars, and unfold the prin- 
ciples which keep the universe in motion and har- 
mony ? With w^hat enthusiasm would he have de- 
scribed its achievements, had he beheld the flood of 
light, which science has poured upon the world, or 
the stupendous power, which man has derived from 
the inventions of art, and especially that single won- 
derful invention, the printing press, which perpetu- 
ates, at once, the knowledge of all arts and all 
sciences, and spreads it through the earth, as upon 
the wings of the wind? Could he have had a glimpse 
of such glorious events, would it have been possible 
for him to believe that there would still be found 
multitudes of men, more solicitous for the body than 
the mind, more intent upon gratifying the senses 
than improving the faculties, more alive to frivolous, 
pleasures than rational pursuits ; multitudes, as be- 
fore, who would pass through life ignorant und un- 
cultivated, sunk in indolence, and slaves to sensual 
indulgence? 

The lamentable fact, so contrary to what might 
have been hoped, only proves, however, that the 
profusion of the light of science, the abundance of 
the means and facilities for acquiring knowledge, 
which distinguish our age, cannot supersede the ne- 
cessity of personal exertion ; and that there are now, 
as there always have been, many who will not labor 
for learning, and more, perhaps, who will not be- 
lieve that it is necessary to labor for virtue. But it 
is as fixed a law of our nature that we nuist labor 



for knowledge, as that we must till the earth by the 
sweat of the brow. Neither knowledji^e nor virtue 
can be given to those w ho will not exert their fac- 
ulties to obtain them ; from their very nature, they 
must be wrought into the mind by its own efforts. 
The acquisition of knowledge, too, as well as virtue, 
is a duty incumbent upon mankind, to the extent of 
their means, in all conditions of life. But it is a 
duty, the performance of which involves its own 
rich reward. Through the beneficent goodness of 
our creator, we are so constituted, as naturally to 
receive pleasure in the acquisition of knowledge, and 
to find in its possession a vast increase of power in 
advancing our own happiness and the happiness of 
others. 

Curiosity, or a desire for information, is as natur- 
al to the mind as hunger or thirst to the body ; 
and, from the earliest period of life, its gratification 
is sought in the pursuit either of useful or trifling in- 
telligence, as the taste of the individual happens to 
be directed. With what inquiring looks does the in- 
fant, before its ideas can be articulated, gaze upon a 
striking object, a brilliant color or beautiful flow- 
er, for instance, and exert all its little efforts to as- 
certain what it is ? This inquisitive disposition 
grows with the growth, and strengthens with the 
strength of the child ; his inquiries multiply, as his 
views expand, and he listens with eager delight to 
any one, who will undertake to satisfy his inquiries, 
and kindly assist in developing his powers, and 
storing his infant mind with thoughts. Pleasure at- 
tends upon every step of his progress. If this vig- 
3 



18 

orous principle is wisely directed, it becomes a pow- 
erful instrument in advancing him in real knowlege, 
and guarding him against evil influences. But if his 
curiosity is suffered to degenerate, for it cannot be 
extinguished, and to be drawn to unworthy objects, 
the gratification it will seek affords no valuable in- 
formation, the vigor of the mind is exhausted to little 
good purpose, perhaps to purposes worse than use- 
less ; and the man may thus become more frivolous 
than the child, giving his daily attention to petty in- 
quiries and petty details, forgotten with t^^e setting 
sun, or remembered only to enliven the scandal of 
another day. Pleasure, of a certain soi't, may ac- 
company the ephemeral acquirements, worthless as 
they are, of this humble class of inquirers 5 but it 
must be a transient, prof i^ess pleasure, unwoi thy of 
an intellectual being ; at the b^st, never rising above 
that of the idlers whom Paul found at Athens, " who 
spent their t'me in nothing else, but either to tell or 
to hear some new thing.'' But the pleasures, which 
flow from the pursuit and acquisition of real know- 
ledge, and the successful inquiries after truth, are 
substantial, durable, and suited to our highest pow- 
ers of enjoyment, at every period of our existence. 
As beautifully expressed by the great statesman and 
orator of ancient Rome, who enjoyed these plea- 
sures in their fullest extent, *' other pursuits are not 
suited to every time, to every age, and to every 
place ; but these delight us in youth and in age, by 
day and by night, at home and on our travels, in the 
city and in the country, are the charm of prosperity, 
and a refuge and solace in adversity."* 

* Cicero pro Archia. 



19 

A learned prelate of the English church, who 
could also speak from experience, animates the 
clergy of his diocese, in their pursuit of learning, by 
reminding them of " that serene pleasure which ac- 
companies the progress, and that happiness which 
crowns the end of our labors for intellectual im- 
provement, and that pure and undisturbed delight, 
which flows from increasing knowledge."* 

Such are the pleasures accompanying the acqui- 
sition of true knowledge ; pleasures, which may be 
enjoyed, in a greater or less degree, by all of every 
condition in life, who have the power to think and 
to feel. What stronger motives can be necessary to 
awaken our sleeping energies, and rouse us to per- 
severing intellectual exertions? 

But motives, still more powerful, may be found 
in the importance, the absolute necessity, indeed, of 
useful knowledge to our happiness and real well- 
being, as individuals and as members of society. 
In the language of Dr. Brown, the recent philoso- 
pher of Scotland, "so essential is knowledge, if not 
to virtue, at least to all the ends of virtue, that, 
without it, benevolence itself, when accompanied 
with power, may be as destructive and desolating as 
intentional tyranny. The whole native vigor of a 
state may be kept down for ages, and the comfort, 
and prosperity, and active industry of unexisting 
millions be blasted by regulations, which, in the in- 
tention of their generous projectors, were to stimu- 
late those very energies which they repressed, and 



Bishop Warburton'i Triennial Charge, 17C1. 



20 

to relieve that very misery which they rendered ir- 
remediable."* The whole history and present con- 
dition of Turkey afford a striking illustration of this 
remark of the Scottish Philosopher. 

But a fuller illustration of the essential value of 
knowledge to truth, to virtue and happiness, may be 
found in the history of those times, which are em- 
phatically called the dark ages. To what a depth 
of degradation and misery was our wretched race re- 
duced by ignorance and her inseparable ministers of 
vengeance, superstition and fanaticism ! What hav- 
oc was made of the noble nature of man ! What a 
flood of errors, absurdities and delusions came over 
him ! What crimes and cruelties sprung up every 
where around him ! And how was he rescued from 
the thraldom of these ministers of vengeance, and 
raised from a state of moral desolation and death to 
intellectual life and dignity? By knowledge, and 
that exertion of his powers which knowledge produ- 
ced. All other means for this purpose were inef- 
fectual till the cultivation of knowledge gave them 
energy. Even the divine light of Christianity, except 
through the medium of knowledge, was dim and 
powerless. Religious faith, to have any moral 
strength, must be founded upon knowledge. 

But knowledge, it has been said, is power for evil 
as well as for good, and, hke edge tools in chil- 
dren's hands, may do mischief, where it is not 
skilfully used. 

Like every other human power, know^ledge may, 
indeed, be abused. But, in most ca.^es, where it is 



Brown's Philosophy, v. 1, p. 13. 



21 

supposed to be abused to the injury of its possessor, 
it will be found to be of the superficial and useless 
kind 5 and, of course, the evils experienced proceed 
not so much from the abuse of real knowledge, as 
from real ignorance of what ought to be known. So 
too we shall find, that it is not so much through want 
of skill in the use and application of knowledge by 
those who possess it, as from motives of interest or 
ambition, and the opportunity afforded by the igno- 
rance of others, that knowledge has been often abu- 
sed, and made the source of evils instead of blessings 
to society. The remedy for all such evils, there- 
fore, is to be sought in the cultivation and general 
diffusion of real and useful knowledge. 

In those countries, where the interests of men in 
authority, civil or ecclesiastical, are considered as 
incompatible with the diffusion of knowledge among 
the people, it will be withheld from them as far as 
practicable, and the measure will be justified, not 
without some show of reason, provided you admit 
the principle upon which it is adopted. If it be 
granted, that the political or religious concerns of 
a nation are the exclusive charge of particular or- 
ders of men, and that those in humbler occupations 
have no right, in any way, to intermeddle with them, 
it will not appear wholly absurd to confine these lat- 
ter classes of men to the information, which is ap- 
propriate to their several callings. Hence, probably, 
the old maxim, " JVe sutor ultra crepidam^^^ keep 
the mechanic to his tools — the laborer to his task ; 
a maxim, sound and useful, in its just sense 5 and, in 
that sense, is, in our country, and under our institu- 



22 

(ions, as applicable to one calling or profession as 
another, from the humblest up to the highest in the 
nation. All are alike bound to penorm well the 
duties, which they assume. Beyo^id this, too, all 
stand on equal ground, citizens of the same free 
country, subject to the same duties, with the same 
privileges, and having the same right to knowledge 
and intellectual enjoyment. 

A diffei'ent doctrine may be expected to prevail 
where distinct political ranks exist, and the spirit of 
aristocracy and family pride is cherished. It may 
be natural, under such circumstances, for those w ho 
succeed to honors and distinctions, as their lawful 
inheritance, to feel jealous of the least encroach- 
ment upon their privileges, and to combine their in- 
fluence to prevent the rise of "new men" into their 
ranks from the low^er classes. Regarding also such 
as are bred to manual occupation, as having nothing 
to do with mental labor, beyond what their partic- 
ular occupations require, they may think it absurd 
to indulge them in a taste for literature or general 
knowledge of any kind. This might be injurious to 
the work of their hands, and, if so, it must be wrong. 
The convenience of all the higher orders is concern- 
ed in the manual skill of the artizan or mechanic, 
the servant or laborer, in which, if he never fails, he 
fulfils the purpose of his existence. The improve- 
ment of his mind in science or knowledge, can have 
respect only to the duties which he owes to God and 
his family. Upon the same principle it is, that the 
slave-holder, in a land of liberty, w^ould shut out 
from the mind of his slave every ray of light, which 



23 

might disclose to him higher duties than impHcit 
submission to his earthly master. 

Thanks to our fathers, who have transmitted to us 
the blessings of freedom and knowledge, we live 
under institutions, which recognise no distinctions, 
but what our creator has made, or enabled us to 
make for ourselves. Merit, personal merit, intellec- 
tual and moral merit, is the claim to distinction, 
which we acknowledge. Other claims are arbitra- 
ry, and at war with nature, which has established a 
rotation of talents and virtues, and the distinction 
grounded upon them, more sure and inevitable, than 
any rotation of civil office, which the will of man 
could ever effect. While some families cease to be 
distinguished, others rise fi-om obscurity and take 
their place, led on, perhaps, by some gifted individ- 
ual, whose force and vigor of mind impel him from 
the humble orbit, in which he first moved, and carry 
him onward and upward, against all opposing ob- 
stacles, till his name becomes a fixed star in the fir- 
mament of glory. 

Such are the character and effect of our free and 
christian institutions. Under their fostering protec- 
tion and influence, if any where on earth, our race 
might be expected to attain, in no restricted sense, 
to the glorious liberty of sons of God ; the liberty of 
mind, of truth, of virtue, of happiness, temporal and 
eternal. The greatest foes to this liberty are preju- 
dice and vice ; and these may be successfully oppo- 
sed by knowledge, the cultivation and diffusion of 
knowledge, with the renovating principles to which 
knowledge gives energy ; that knowledge, which is 



24 

suited to the wants and circumstances of society, 
and which is calculated to improve and exalt the 
mind and heart of him who receives it, to enlighten 
and aid him in the duties of his particular calling, in 
the duties which he owes to his family and children, 
who look to him for guidance and instruction; 
which he owes to himself, to his never dying mind, 
which he owes to his country and to his God, duties, 
from the faithful performance of which, there can be 
no dispensation. In proportion as such knowledge 
abounds, prejudice and vice will disappear. The 
effect of all sound knowledge is to purify the mind 
from prejudice, to raise it above low desires and 
pursuits, to soften and subdue the passions, and to 
expand and refine the affections. The very exercise 
of the faculties in acquiring knowledge, the con- 
sciousness of intellectual power which it excites, the 
rational occupation and entertainment which it af- 
fords, the interesting associations which it awakens, 
as well as the stores of thought and contemplation, 
which it gathers for the mind, all have a most salu- 
tary influence upon the moral sentiments and char- 
acter, and lead directly to the formation of good 
principles, and virtuous habits. 

We sometimes, indeed, see distinguished talents 
and attainments in science, united with depravity 
and vice. But this is not common, and it is still less 
so, that we find those whose understandings have 
been judiciously cultivated, and who have advanced 
themselves in various learning, deficient in moral 
rectitude. In all ages of the world, the most emi- 
nent philosophers have generally been illustrious for 



25 

their virtues. But, however particular causes may 
operate in some instances to counteract the moral 
influence of knowledge upon the individual, it will 
be found universally the case, that the age and coun- 
try, which are the most enhghtened by knowledge, 
are also the most virtuous and happy.* 

It is not because I supposed the truth of what has 
now been urged in behalf of knowledge would be 
questioned by any one, that I have thus dwelt upon 
the subject, but because, like many other admitted 
truths, it is apt to be practically disregarded 5 and 
because the deeper our impression is of the value of 
knowledge, the stronger will be our desire to possess 
it, and the more strenuous our efforts to diffuse its 
blessings among our fellow men. In proportion as 
knowledge ceases to be cultivated, the deplorable 
evils of ignorance and moral darkness will return. 
Knowledge is the true light of the mind, and as 
essential to it for its safety and guidance, as natural 



* A writer of the present day, in England, after stating that " n(» fiict of hu- 
man nature is better ascertained than that tlie classes of men, whose range of 
ideas is the narrowest, are the most prone to vice," observes of the English 
population that " in the narrowness of the circ^Ie of ideas and its effect upon 
morals, no class comes so near the lowest of all as the highest in wealth anji 
fashion. Few individuals in that class, he says, can endure books, or iiave 
profited by the forms of education through which they have passed. Bemg 
exempt from the cares of life, they have none of those ideas which the occu- 
pations of the middle classes force them to acquire. The circle of their ideaa, 
therefore, is confined to their amusements and pleasures, the ceremonial of 
fashionable life, the private history of a few scores of families, which associ- 
ate with one another only, v/hich they call the world, and which in truth 
are the world to them. The demoralizing effect of these monotonous 
pleasures and this narrow circle of ideas, is the same with the monotonous 
occupations of those in the lowest class, who are confined to the constant 
repetition of a small number of operations, and whose senses and thoughts 
for almost t!;e whole of their working hours are chained to a few objects." 
Thus, virtue and happiness prevail most in those classes of the community, 
whose minds have the most liberal range of ideas, and whose occupations 
are relieved by interesting objects of thought and feeling. Such must be the 
ease in all nations, and at all times, as well as in Great Britain, at the pres- 
ent day. 



26 

light is to the body. We justly feel a deep compas- 
sion for the unfortunate being, whose eyes are closed 
to the sweet light of the sun and all the beautiful 
objects it exhibits ; and surely he is not less enti- 
tled to our compassion, whose mind is darkened by 
ignorance and closed to the pure delights of know- 
ledge, and who, instead of being cheered and guided 
through his journey of life by reason, and truth, and 
intelligence, is assailed by the foul harpies of vice, 
haunted by the phantoms of superstition, or seized 
upon by the furies of fanaticism. 

Such being the value of knowledge, we perceive, 
at once, the immense importance of education 5 a 
subject, which has always interested the learned, 
and which now engages universal attention. Yet, 
after all the inquiries and speculations upon this 
subject, the views generally entertained of education 
appear to be Hmited and imperfect. We are apt to 
regard it as confined to the season of youth, or, if 
extended beyond that period, as belonging exclusive- 
ly to those, with whose profession or occupation it 
is particularly connected. Juster views would lead 
us to consider education as the personal and practi- 
cal concern of every individual, and at all periods 
of his life. I shall not presume, at this time, to tax 
your patience by entering, at large, upon this fruit- 
ful theme, but shall hope to be indulged in a few 
desultory remarks, chiefly respecting self-education, 
as more immediately applicable to the consideration 
of Lyceums. 

Education, in the most extensive sense of the 
term, comprehends every thing which is conducive 



27 

to the cultivation of our nature, and to our advance- 
ment in necessary knowledge. In this comprehen- 
sive view of the subject, certain philosophers have 
considered education as the cause of the great dif- 
ference among mankind, as to intellectual and moral 
attainments and character. Mr. Locke, that pro- 
found explorer of the human mind, and the first au- 
thor of a systematic treatise on education, says, 
^* That of all the men we meet with, nine parts of 
ten are what they are, good or evil, useful or not, 
by their education. It is that which makes the 
great difference in mankind;" including, as he did, 
in his view of education, the earliest impressions of 
infancy, as well as all the efforts for self-education 
through life. Sir Isaac Newton relied for success, 
in all his investigations, upon the persevering exer- 
tion of his faculties, rather than the possession of 
any superior endowments, and attributed his glori- 
ous discoveries in science to unwearied industry and 
patience of thought, not to extraordinary natural sa- 
gacity.* Though we may not adopt these opinions 
in their full extent, yet no one will doubt that much 
depends upon human exertion, and that education, 
if it cannot perform every thing, possesses incalcu- 
lable power, and demands the attention of all who 
are blest with understanding and freedom, whatever 
may be their occupation, or condition in society. 
Those who have been favored with advantages of 
early instruction, or even with a course of liberal 



* Lord Teignmouth says. " It was a favorite opiiTu.-n of Sir AVilliam 
Jones, that all men are l)orn\vith an t'fjnal capacity for irnprovctnent." 

Life inijixcd to Works of Sir IV. Jonts, v. 2, p. ii'J'J. 



^ducation^ ought to regard it rather as a good foun- 
dation to build upon, than as a reason for relaxing 
in their efforts to make advances in learning. The 
design of early education, it should be remembered, 
is not so much to accumulate information, as to de- 
velope, invigorate, and discipline the faculties, to 
form habits of attention, observation, and industry, 
and thus to prepare the mind for more extensive ac- 
quirements, as well as for a proper discharge of the 
duties of life.* 

Those, who have not enjoyed the privileges of ear- 
ly instruction, must feel the stronger inducement to 
avail themselves of all the means and opportunities, 
in their power, for the cultivation of their minds and 
the acquisition of knowledge. It can never be too 
late to begin or to advance the work of improve- 
ment. They will find distinguished examples of 
success, in the noble career of self education, to an- 
imate their exertions. These will teach them, that 
no condition of life is so humble, no circumstances 
so depressing, no occupation so laborious, as to pre- 
sent insuperable obstacles to success in the pursuit 
of knowledge. All such disheartening obstacles 
combined may be surmounted, as they have been, in 
a thousand instances, by a resolute and persevering 

• " Lonke. though fdiicaterl within her walls (Oxford), was much more in- 
debted to himself th.nn to hi« instrncters, and was in himself an instance of 
that pelf-tcachinj^, always the most efficient and valuable, which he after- 
wards so strongly recommends In a letter to the Earl of Peterborough, he 
observes, ' Mr. JNewton learned his matl)omatics only of himself; and another 
friend of m-ne. greek, (wlierein he is very well skilled,) without a master ; 
though, both these sttjdies seem to require the lielp of a tutor more than any 
other.' Jn an(»ther letter he says, ' When a man has got an entrance into 
any of tfie sciences, it will be time then, to depend on himself and rely upon 
his own understanding, snd exercise his own faculties, which is the only wav 
♦o improvement and mastery.' " Lord King s Life of Locke. 



29 

determination to overcome them. Some of the most 
celebrated philosophers of antiquity rose from tlie 
condition of slaves ; and many of the most learned 
among the moderns have educated themselves under 
circumstances scarcely less depressing, than those of 
servitude. Heyne, the first classical scholar of Ger- 
many, during the last century, and the brightest or- 
nament of the University of Gottingen, raised himself 
from the depths of poverty, by his own persevering, 
determined spirit of application, rather than by su- 
perior force of natural genius. Gifford, the elegant 
translator of Juvenal, struggled with poverty and 
hardships in early life, and nobly persevered till he 
gained the high rewards of British learning. And 
Ferguson, the celebrated astronomer and mechani- 
cian, was the son of a day laborer, and, at an early 
age, was placed at service with several farmers, in 
succession ; yet, without teachers, and almost with- 
out means of instruction, he attained to a high rank 
among the philosophers of his time, and, as a lectur- 
er, was listened to by the most exalted as well as 
humblest in rank and station. By his clear and sim- 
ple manner of teaching the physical sciences, he 
rendered the knowledge of them more general than 
it had ever before been in England, and through his 
learned publications he became also the instructer 
of colleges and miiversities. All these extraordina- 
ry men have left memoirs of themselves, detaihngthe 
struggles through which they passed, which will for- 
ever teach persevering resolution, against opposing 
obstacles, to all who have a love of knowledge or a 



30 

desire for improvement.^ What encouragement may 
they not afibrd to those who have no such struggles 
to encounter, and v^ho can obtain without difficulty 
the means of instructing themselves ? There w^ould 
seem to be no apology at the present day, in this 
country at least, for extreme ignorance, in any situ- 
ation or condition of life. The most valuable know- 
ledge, that which is essential to moral cultivation, is 
certainly within the reach of all. 

Innumerable are the instances of successful self- 
instruction, not only among men of bright natural 
talents, but among those of apparently moderate 
powers ; not only against the force of early disad- 
vantages, but against that of the most adverse cir- 
cumstances of active and public employment The 
highest honors of learning have been won amidst la- 
borious professional duties, and the pressing cares 
of state. Hardy seamen, too, who have spent their 
days in conflict with the storms of the ocean, have 
found means to make themselves distinguished in 
science and literature, as w ell as by achievements 
in their profession. The lives of Columbus, Cook, 
and Lord Collingwood gloriously attest this fact. 
Our own country has produced her full proportion 
of self-taught men, statesmen and civilians, philoso- 
phers and men of science. At their head stand 
Washington and Franklin, neither of whom enjoyed, 
in early life, advantages of education equal to those 
which are afforded by some of our free schools to 
the humblest of the people. And there is not, prob- 

* See prefixed to Ferguson's Lectures, and Gifford's Juvenal, the simple 
and affecting narratives of tlieir respective literary adventures. 



r* 



1 



ably, now upon the earth, a more honorable exam- 
ple of self-education, than our own La Place, alike 
profound in science, and accomplislied in the practi- 
cal duties of life, and whose brilliant reputation has 
already become national property. 

These great examples show how much an indi- 
vidual may accomplish for himself by vigorous and 
persevering efforts in pursuit of knowledge and the 
improvement of his mind and character. The expe- 
rience and observation of all who have been con- 
cerned in the instruction of others will testify, that 
success cannot be anticipated from any possible ex- 
ternal advantages of education, without the pupiFs 
own diligent exertion. Universities, professors, and 
public libraries have no magical power to give and 
to grant knowledge 5 it must be earned by the la- 
bors of him who seeks it, must be created, in fact, 
by the powers of the mind which is blest with it. 
Difficulties, even, have sometimes a stimulating ef- 
fect upon the mind, which is of more value to the 
student than the united aid of these splendid advan- 
tages. When facilities abound, and the pupil has 
his instructer and guide ever at hand, to relieve his 
embarrassment and lighten his labor, he is apt to 
relax in the vigor of his application, and to lose the 
main object of early education^ mental discipline 
and strength, while the information he gains is too 
superficial to be of much worth. An ardent desire 
for knowledge will do more in its acquisition, than 
all that wealth and influence can effect. 

Let it never be forgotten, therefore, that the vari- 
ous means and opportunities for improvement, for 









52 

advancement in science, or proficiency in general 
knowledge, which are so abundant at the present 
day, are nothing without attention, and thought, and 
persevering exercise of the understanding and rea- 
son. Let no one expect to receive from Lyceums, 
or other institutions, any improvement or benefit, 
but upon the condition that he exert the powers of 
his mind in appropriating to himself the instruction, 
which is there given. Let him look there, too, for 
excitement and direction, in his pursuit of knowledge, 
still more than for knowledge itself. And let him 
bear in mind two of the rules adopted by Sir Wil- 
liam Jones, that illustrious example of diligence and 
learning — that " whatever had been attained was 
attainable by him" ; and " never to neglect an op- 
portunity of improving his intellectual faculties, or 
acquiring any valuable accomplishment."^ 

Among the numerous benefactors, who have risen 
up in our eventful times, to bless the human race, 
none will be entitled to more veneration from pos- 
terity, than those who have led the way in develop- 
ing the intellectual faculties and moral affections of 
the young, inspiring them with a love and desire of 
excellence, and stimulating their exertions in the at- 
tainment of it; and in extending among all classes 
of people the blessings of knowledge, virtue and 
happiness. The name of Pestalozzi will be dear 
throughout all generations ; dear to the friend of 
humanity, to the lover of truth and goodness, to the 
whole family of want ; but, above all, dear to the 

* Life of Sir W. Jones, v. 2, p. 2.98. 



33 

mother, who so deeply feels her responsibility, and 
who will find in him a never failing guide, to cheer 
and animate her in the discharge of her holy duties. 
His principles of education, both in opening the 
infant mind, and in rescuing the poor from the dark 
dominion of ignorance, were as simple as they were 
profound, and as original as they were true to na- 
ture.* He found a kindred spirit in Fellenberg, 
whose splendid establishment at Hofwyl, in Switz- 
erland, has given additional celebrity to the princi- 
ples of Pestalozzi. On that beautiful and salubri- 
ous spot, the sons of the wealthy and the poor are 
educated in the most appropriate manner, by means 
of literary and practical institutions, a spacious 
farm for agricultural labor and instruction, and a 
manufactory of implements and machinery, in which 
mechanical skill may be acquired. It is ardently 
to be hoped, that our country may yet be blessed 
with similar establishments. To introduce them, if 
only so far as respects the poor, in the vicinity of 
our great cities, where they might afford employ- 
ment and instruction to those thousands who are 
now supported, at the public expense, in idleness, 
ignorance, and vice, would be an object worthy of 
the best energies of American philanthropy. 

The influence of Pestalozzi and Fellenberg ex- 
tended to England, and, if it did not enkindle, served 
to spread the excitement there in favor of popular 
education. Renowned as Brougham may be, as a 
statesman, his fame with posterity will probably rest 

* See Prineiples of Pestalozzi, &c., by C. Mayo, LL. D.; also, Journal of 
Education, v. 4, p. 97, 414, 548. 



34 

upon his labors in this great cause. He has glori- 
ously led the way in providing for the British popu- 
lation some of those blessings of a free education, 
which the fathers of New England planted here. 
It is but about seven years since the introduction of 
the Mechanics' Institution in London ; though 
something of the kind had before existed, both at 
Glasgow and Edinburgh. The example being thus 
set in London, under the auspices of Mr. Brough- 
am, was immediately followed in the principal pro- 
vincial towns, and has since extended even to Van 
Diemen's land, on the opposite side of our globe ; 
where, we are told, a mechanics' institution is in 
successful operation at Hobart Town. These as- 
sociations appear to have excited a deep interest 
among all classes of people in Great Britain. The 
Society for the diffusion of useful knowledge 
are furnishing excellent treatises on scientific sub- 
jects and the various branches of knowledge, design- 
ed for the extension of popular instruction, and 
especially adapted to the use of all such associa- 
tions.* Similar institutions have, for some time, 

* The ienrned Committee of this Society, with Mr. Brougham at their head, 
proceed in their labors with energy and effect. Their first undertaking was 
" the Library of Useful Knowledge," commenced in 1827, being a series of 
treatises, published at the beginning and middle of every month, about sev- 
enty of which have already appeared, embracing subjects of Natural Philoso- 
phy, History, Biography, &c. Last year the Committee commenced, in ad- 
dition to these, the publication of " the Farmer's Series," for the more im- 
mediate benefit of that class of readers; and also the " Library of Entertaining 
Knowledge," comprising " as much entertaining matter as can be given 
along with useful knowledge, and as much knowledge as can be conveyed in 
an amusing form." They are also proceeding with the publication of a se- 
ries of ancient and modern Maps. The British Almanac, a work of great 
utility, is likewise published under their superintendence. All these works 
appear to be executed with ability, and are admirably adapted for the purpo- 
se.-; intended. The engravings are very neat, some of them beautiful. The 
Preliminary Treiitise is an eloquent and learned discour.se by Mr. Brougham, 
presenting amasteily exposition of the objects, advantages and pleasures of 



35 

existed in our country, and been conducted, in this 
vicinity at least, with much spirit and success. 
Proficiency in the various manufacturing and me- 
chanic arts is advanced by a knowledge of the sci- 
entific principles applicable to each ; and, therefore, 
the immediate design of the mechanics' institution 
has been to extend among mechanics and manufac- 
turers the most necessary information of this de- 
scription. 

Lyceums, as established with us, being constitu- 
ted by individuals from all the various professions 
and occupations, are, of course, more comprehen- 
sive in their objects. The plan of these institutions 
nearly resembles that of several associations, which 
have sprung up in London within the last five years, 
composed of young men engaged in commercial and 
professional pursuits. These, we are informed, have 
lectures delivered to them, once in a week, upon 
some branch of science or literature 5 and also 
weekly discussions upon historical, moral, and po- 
litical questions, avoiding all subjects of a party or 
purely controversial nature. 

This slight account of the plan of the London as- 
sociations may sufficiently indicate the course of 
exercises usually pursued in our Lyceums, origina- 
ting in similar views, though not adopted with any 
designed coincidence. In the choice of subjects for 
these exercises, we have before us the whole extent 

natural science. These excellent publications, moreover, are remarkably 
cheap; the Library of Useful Knowledge being afforded here at the low rata 
of 15 cents for each number, including the plates, having 32 closely filled pa- 
;ges, containing in matter nearly the amount of three times that number of 
common octavo pages. 



S6 

of useful knowledge ; and all knowledge is useful, 
which is conducive to improvement, or rational en- 
joyment, or which may be applied to any valuable 
purpose. Philosophy, literature, the sciences and 
arts, the history of past ages and of the present, the 
affairs of nations, the occupations of society, the lives 
of individuals, the great works of nature and of man, 
the whole world, indeed, around us and within us, 
abound in topics, which excite inquiry and lead to 
interesting results. The difficulty is not in finding 
attractive and useful subjects, but in selecting, from 
a boundless variety, those which are proper for pop- 
ular discussion, and most deserving of general atten- 
tion. 

The natural sciences, which embrace the objects 
of the material world, will always engage attention, 
as being not only important in their application to 
the useful arts, but calculated to awaken the curi- 
osity and develope the powers of the youthful mind ; 
and, at the same time, to inspire a taste for the beau- 
ties of nature, and a devout veneration of the almighty 
author, whose wisdom and goodness they exemplify. 
It is not easy to imagine a more interesting exercise, 
than to examine into the laws and operations of na- 
ture through all her works, from the wonderful ob- 
jects of natural history, the curious disclosures of 
chemistry, or the brilliant exhibitions of electricity 
and optics, up to the grand and astonishing views, 
which are presented to us by astronomy. 

All those branches of knowledge, which more im- 
mediately respect man, his physical, intellectual, and 
moral nature, his rights, duties, interests, and rela- 



37 

tions in society, are not less important, certainly, 
than the natural sciences, though some of them may 
be more suited to the student of maturer years. 
Others, however, are well adapted to interest and 
improve the young ; and the whole of this class of 
subjects may be so treated and discussed, as to afford 
pleasure and instruction to persons of every age and 
condition. The philosophy of the human mind, as 
it now exists, cleared of the metaphysical jargon 
which once perplexed it, presents a rich field of in- 
quiry, which could not be explored without benefit 
by those, who are desirous of looking into their own 
minds, and understanding more clearly the nature of 
the faculties they possess, and learning how each 
may be most efiectually improved. A lecture upon 
any one of the mental faculties might afford, to every 
hearer, valuable hints for its cultivation and im- 
provement. Who would not desire a clear percep- 
tion, a sound judgment, a faithful memory, a well 
regulated imagination, a habit of attention, with the 
power of applying the mind so closely to any sub- 
ject, as to be able to comprehend it, and reasoning 
so correctly as to arrive at the truth? All these ad- 
vantages, it is the province of this science to assist 
us in acquiring. 

Education, nearly connected with mental philo- 
sophy, and depending upon it for every substantial 
improvement, is a subject full of interest to the 
whole community ; and in regard to which there is 
at all times a tendency to extremes, both in theory 
and practice. What should we think, at this day, 
of the sort of discipline alluded to by good old Rog- 



38 

er Ascham, the tutor of Queen Elizabeth, in his 
statement of a conversation, which took place at the 
table of Lord Cecil, the Queen's secretary of state, 
a small portion of which you will allow me to intro- 
duce. In his quaint manner he relates, that after 
being seated at table, " Mr. Secretary saith, ' I have 
strange news brought me this morning, that divers 
scholars of Eton be run away from the school for 
fear of beating.' Mr. Peter, as one somewhat severe 
of nature, said plainly, ' that the rod only was the 
sword, that must keep the school in obedience, and 
the scholar in good order.' Mr. Haddan w as fully 
of Mr. Peter's opinion, and said ' that the best 
schoolmaster of our time was the greatest beater.' "* 
Such a doctrine would now be shocking to most 
parents ; but, in the opinion of some judicious ob- 
servers of human nature, the extreme of the present 
day, which consists in stimulating the spirit of com- 
petition among children so highly as to make them 
overwork themselves, is not less cruel, in effect, and 
more dangerous in its consequences. They would 
admonish us, not to overlook the hearts of these lit- 
tle ones in our zeal to bring forward their under- 
standings ; nor to lose the precious season, which 
nature designed for the developement of their moral 
and benevolent affections and planting the seeds of 
all good principles, by employing it wholly in task- 
ing their tender faculties. 

The discussion of topics like these, as well as ev- 
ery thing relating to our schools and institutions of 

* Works of Roger Ascham, p. 187. 



39 

learning, could not foil to be interesting and useful, 
especially in bringing into view the results of expe- 
rience, and a comparison of the observations of dif- 
ferent authors, both ancient and modern, for some 
of the most just ideas of education are found amon<r 
the former, and deducing from the whole the best 
principles and practical rules. 

Ethical and political philosophy, mechanical sci- 
ence, civil history, and general Uteratiu-e, all abound 
in topics of lively interest and practical utility. The 
governments, state and national, under which we 
live, their various establishments, all the great in- 
terests and institutions of society, together with po- 
litical economy, which has now become a science, 
and whatever concerns our social, civil, and politi- 
cal relations, are at all times deserving of inquiry, 
and a free and faithful discussion of them could not 
fail to engage and reward the attention of any por- 
tion of our people. 

It has been thought by some, that there is a ten- 
dency, in the spirit of our times, to overlook the just 
claims of the intellectual and moral sciences, as ob- 
jects of general pursuit, compared with physical and 
mechanical philosophy. The present age, among 
other characteristic denominations, has, indeed, been 
called the mechanical age, or the age of machinery. 
The brilliant discoveries and astonishing inventions, 
which have burst upon our view, and which so im- 
mediately affect the public affairs of business, and 
the accommodations of the active world, strike upon 
the senses and powerfully excite the imaginations of 
men. It is not surprising, therefore, that, when 



40 

compared with such dazzling objects, those branches 
of knowledge, w^hich are so much less imposing to 
observation, should fail of a jest appreciation, how- 
ever essential they may be to the growth of wisdom, 
and truth, and virtue, the great instruments, ordain- 
ed by the author of our being, for producing human 
happiness, and advancing the solid welfare of society. 

In estimating the comparative value of different 
branches of knowledge, as objects of general pur- 
suit, it should be considered, whether the cultiva- 
tion of them is necessary to all, or only to a portion 
of the community. There are many sciences and 
arts, the flourishing existence of which is highly im- 
portant to society, which it little concerns any to 
study thoroughly, if at all, excepting those to whose 
profession or occupation they are appropriate. The 
skill of the professed artist or mechanic affords to 
the whole community their practical results and 
benefits, It might gratify curiosity, a laudable cu- 
riosity, indeed, if indulged without neglecting more 
substantial inquiries, to investigate minutely the sci- 
entific principles of the arts, which daily minister 
to our comfort or delight ; but it could not add ma- 
terially to the enjoyment, which their productions 
are designed to afford. 

Those ingenious men, who have distinguished 
themselves by their invention or skill in the mechan- 
ic arts, are justly regarded as great public benefac- 
tors, but not so great, as those, who have been dis- 
tinguished for their zeal and efUciency in advancing 
the intellectual and moral condition of the human 
race. Mankind might have better spared a Watt, 



41 

an Arkwright, or a Fulton, than a Bacon or Locke, 
an Alfred or Washington. The beneficent influence 
of the labors and works of this class of benefactors 
is less questionable or precarious, than of the for- 
mer. The mighty labor-saving machines, which 
have created such prodigious human power, and the 
want of which is so much felt, or thought to be felt, 
after they are once known, have not, perhaps, in all 
instances, added to the amount of human happiness. 
Had they never existed, the want of them would not 
probably have been felt so severely, as the want of 
employment now is by thousands of that class of 
people, whose labor they have usurped.* Even the 
safety-lamp, the glorious invention of Sir Humphrey 
Davy, the success of which in preserving human 
life was thought to be beyond the reach of acci- 
dent, seems to have become subservient to the 
gains of the avaricious coal-owners, instead of saving 
the lives of the poor pit-men 5 who are compelled to 
work in places so much more dangerous than for- 
merly, that, according to a statement publicly made, 
for the ten years immediately following the use of 
the safety-lamp, the number of explosions which 
took place in the mines, was double that of those, 

* Such machines, too, may be the occasion of great loss to the proprietors. 
A writer in the Edinburgh Review, (v. 50, p. 354) after remarking that, in a 
simple 3tate of society, the cottage weaver, if he cannot sell his web, be- 
comes an agriculturist", &c. proceeds to observe : " Buc a power-loom factory 
cannot be diverted from its original destination ; and its proprietors continue 
to work it, even in the face of a falling market, and of reduced profits, in 
order to secure some interest, however small, on their fixed capital. The 
extreme delicacy of some of the machinery, used in manufictures, renders it 
necessary that vvork should be continued, even without profit, lest the ma- 
chinery should perish by being left inactive. The rapid improvements in 
machinery, though increasing the sum of national wealth, produce for a time 
great pressure on individuals. An enterprising merchant, may, in 1S2I>. h^ive 
invested his disposable capital in machinery, which in 1830 becomes value- 
less by the competition of an improved invention." 

6 



42 

which happened during the ten years preceding its 
introduction. And thus this most benevolent effort 
of science has been converted into the means of de- 
stroying the very lives, it was intended to save. 

It is no part of the design of these remarks to 
disparage the claims of mechanical or chemical 
science, but merely to lead your minds to a just 
comparative estimate of that knowledge, which is 
most important in general education, and which 
merits your particular attention as members of Ly- 
ceums. The boundless region of knowledge can- 
not be explored by any of us, and it concerns us 
deeply to direct our inquiries judiciously, and with 
a constant reference to our highest good. 

On this point, however, the opinions of profound 
and experienced observers of human life and affairs, 
must be more acceptable, than any thing which it is 
in my power to suggest. The great intellectual 
philosopher, already mentioned, observes: '^ There 
are so many things to be known, while our time on 
earth is so short, that we must, at once, reject all 
useless learning. The great object of education is, 
to form the pupil's mind, to settle good habits, and 
the principles of virtue and wisdom ; and to excite 
him to a love and imitation of what is excellent and 
praiseworthy ; and to give him vigor, activity, and 
industry."* 

The celebrated bishop Warburton says : " Of all 
literary exercitations, whether designed for the use 
or entertainment of the world, there are none of so 

* Locke on Ed., &c. 



43 

much importance, or so immediately our concern, 
as those which let us into a knowledge of our own 
nature. Others may exercise the understanding, or 
amuse the imagination, but these only can improve 
the heart, and form the human mind to wisdom."* 

The great British moralist, in his Life of Milton, 
says, " The truth is, that the knowledge of external 
nature, and the sciences which that knowledge re- 
quires or includes, are not the great or the frequent 
business of the human mind. Whether we provide 
for action or conversation, whether we wish to be use- 
ful or pleasing, the first requisite is the religious and 
moral knowledge of right and wrong ; the next is an 
acquaintance with the history of mankind, and with 
those examples, which may be said to embody truth, 
and prove by events the reasonableness of opin- 
ions. Prudence and justice are virtues and excel- 
lencies of all times and of all places 5 we are per- 
petually moralists, but we are geometricians only by 
chance. Our intercourse with intellectual nature is 
necessary ; our speculations upon matter are volun- 
tary and at leisure." And in support of these views. 
Dr. Johnson appeals to Socrates, the ancient sage, 
who is proverbially known, as having called home 
philosophy from her vain and useless wanderings, to 
teach man the knowledge and culture of his own na- 
ture, and the practical duties of life. 

Such are the intimations of these illustrious guides 
to wisdom and knowledge The subjects of inquiry, 

•=• See " The Friend, a Series of Essays," by S. T. Coleridge, vol. 1, 102 : 
a work, by the way, deserving more attention than it seems yet to have re- 
ceived in this country. Whatever some may think of the author's e?timal3 
of Locke, as a philosopher, no one can be ii}tensiblQ to the powerJul and ele- 
vating moral influence of tliese Essays. 



44 

which they would recommend to our chief attention, 
afford instruction suited to all persons, under ail cir- 
cumstances, and at all periods of life ; instruction, 
too, which there could be no dijfficulty in finding lec- 
turers to communicate, wherever individuals of judg- 
ment and taste, or of literary or professional leisure 
are to be found, who are willing to impart to others 
the results of their reading and reflection, aiming, as 
we ever ought to aim in these institutions, at useful- 
ness rather than originality. There are many, we 
may hope, in our community, who would readily 
yield to the advice, w^hich a learned pleader of an- 
cient Rome gave to those of his own profession, 
who had quitted the busy scenes of the forum, that 
they could not better employ and dignify the evening 
of life, than in bestowing upon the rising generation 
the fruits of their experience and learning.* 

Biography, so rich, at the present day, in those 
*'•' examples which embody truth," would supply you 
with materials of never failing interest, whatever 
science or art,^ or branch of knowledge or wisdom 
you might wish to illustrate or enforce. In tracing 
the life and character of a man eminent for genius or 
learning, you would naturally be led to a considera- 
tion of his leading objects of pursuit, as well as his 
virtues and talents. Important general views, even 
of the exact sciences, might thus be given, enlivened 
by historical anecdote and sketches of human life. 
How could instruction be more agreeably conveyed 
to a popular audience, as to the inductive philoso- 

* Quintil. 1. 12. 11. 



45 

pby of Bacon, the mental researches of Locke, or 
the discoveries of Newton or of Davy, than by ex- 
hibiting the virtues and prominent events in the hves 
of these great men, together with the progress and 
result of their scientific labors ? So, too, all that is 
most interesting in the history and description of the 
useful or the fine arts might be connected with the 
lives of those, who have been most conspicuous in the 
invention or advancement of them. But it is the 
more pecuHar province of biograpliy to assist 
us in acquiring and communicating that kind of 
knowledge, which has been considered as of the* 
highest value and of universal application. The 
"virtues of all times and of all places" are eloquent 
in the lives of illustrious men. The intellectual and 
moral developement of our nature, by others, reveals 
to us our own capacities of improvement and action. 
How could a lecturer more clearly demonstrate the 
ability of man for self-education, than by the life of 
Franklin, or, his moral power over others, than by 
the history of Socrates ? The biography of the 
American philosopher has often been thus applied, 
and that of the Grecian sage is not less fruitful of in- 
struction and interest. Socrates was the father of 
true philosophy in the ancient world, and has left an 
example, which will never cease to proclaim the 
moral energies of our nature. Such were the origi- 
nal and elevating views and principles, which he un- 
folded in his discourses, transmitted to us by Plato 
and Xenophon, that, although he left nothing in wri- 
ting himself, no author has surpassed him in the ven- 
eration of succeeding ages. From him we might 



46 

learn how old are some of the most sublime senti- 
ments of truth and duty, and how competent we are, 
with or without the aids of modern science, to be- 
come wise, virtuous and happy. We might learn, 
too, how superior was the humble heathen, seeking 
the divine truths of immortality, which he could not 
find, to the proud skeptic, who glories in the light 
which surrounds him, yet bhndly rejects that, which 
alone penetrates the veil of futurity.* 

What could be more pertinent, to the object of 
Lyceum meetings, than to introduce the wise and 
good of other times, uttering anew their best thoughts, 
and exhibiting again the virtues, which have always 
inspired admiration? History, it has been said, is 
philosophy teaching by example. Biography would 
thus instruct us, both by precept and example, to- 
gether with finished models of excellence, she would 



* A few words may here be acceptable from the discourse of Socrates with 
his friend Aristodemus, concerning the worship and providence of God, as 
translated by Cudworth, in his great work, " The Intellectual System." (v. 2, 
p. 285.) 

Aristodemus says, " I despise not the Deity, O Socrates, but think him to 
be too magnificent a being to stand in need of my worship." Socrates re- 
plies, " How much the more magnificent and illustrious that being is, who 
takes care of you; so much the more, in all reason, ought he to be honored 
by you." 

Aristodemus discovering his disbelief of Providence, " as being incredible, 
that one and the same Deity should be able to regard all things at once," 
Socrates says to him, " Consider, friend, I pray you, if that mind, which is 
in your body, does order and dispose it every way, as it pleases ; why should 
not that wisdom, which is in the universe, be able to order all things therein, 
as seems best to it .'' And if your eye can discern things several miles distant 
from it, why should it be thought a thing impossible for the eye of God to be- 
hold all things at once .'' And if your soul can mind things both here and iti 
Egypt, and in Sicily, why may not the great mind or wisdom of God, be able 
to take care of all things, in all places ?" 

Such was the manner of Socrates, in teaching the truths of natural religion 
and inculcating the moral duties of man. It is worthy of remark, that in il- 
lustrating the wisdom and goodness of God from the marks of benevolent de- 
sign in his works, he drew the same evidence from the structure of the hu- 
man frame, that Paley has so beautifully extended and developed in hit 
admirable work upon Natural Theology. 

Xenophon's Mem. of Socrates, by S. Fielding, p. 56. 



47 

deliver to us the lessons of sound philosophy, the 
truths of science, the principles of art, and the re- 
sults of general knowledge. 

Thus, my friends, have I endeavored to discharge 
the duty, assigned to me on this occasion. In giv- 
ing you so freely the sentiments and opinions of ven- 
erated authors, it has been my wish to add the 
weight of their authority to important truths, as well 
as to exemplify the principle, before suggested, that, 
in all the exercises connected with our Lyceums, we 
ought to aim at utility rather than originality. It. 
has been my leading purpose to impress you with 
the general importance of the subject, and to give 
you such a view of the design, advantages and ob- 
jects of these institutions, as might serve to deepen 
your sense of their value, and confirm your resolution 
to persevere in the noble cause, in which you have 
engaged, Higlier motives to exertion cannot be ad- 
dressed to intelligent, accountable beings, than are 
involved in the cause of human improvement ; a 
cause, to which every thing in the condition and 
prospects of our country adds importance. These 
motives apply with peculiar force to those, whom 
providence has blessed with influence in society, or 
with the treasures of science and knowledge. Exert 
your influence in advancing the well-being of socie- 
ty, and communicate freely of the treasures, which 
you possess. These are treasures, which you can- 
not bequeath to your friends, which you cannot leave 
to be inherited by your children. Labor, then, to 
impart them while you may ; you cannot make a 



48 

«iobIer benefaction, or one which will leave in the 
world a more precious memorial of your existence 
in it ; and, while you enrich the minds of others with 
knowledge, and bless society by its influence, you 
will provide for yourselves a pure enjoyment, and 
contribute your aid to strengthen the foundations of 
the great temple of public liberty and social hap- 
piness- 



I*UBLI3HKD BT ORDER OF THE ESSEX COUWTY LYCEUM. 



APPENDIX. 



It has been thought that some more particular informatron may be 
desirable, respecting Lyceums, and the introduction of them in this 
County, than could be given in the preceding discourae, consistently 
with its plan or the time allotted for its delivery. The following selec- 
tions and remarks, therefore, are added by way of an Appendix. 

In Feb. 1829, a public meeting was held in Boston, consisting of 
members of the Legislature and other gentlemen, at which a committee 
was appointed to collect information concerning Lyceums in this Com- 
monwealth, and report at a similar meeting to be held during the ensu- 
ing session of the Legislature. At this second meeting, held Feb. 19, 
1830, his Excellency Governor Lincoln presiding, committees were ap- 
pointed for the several counties, to collect and diffuse information on 
the subject of Lyceums, and to report at another meeting during the 
next winter session of the General Court. At a general meeting of 
these county committees, a central committee of Massachusetts was 
chosen, of which the Hon. A.H. Everett is chairman, for the purpose 
of corresponding with the committees in the several counties. The 
first circular of this central committee has just been issued, and con- 
tains, among other things, the following authentic summary information 
concerning Lyceums. 

"A Lyceum is a voluntary association of persons for mutual improve- 
ment. The subjects of their inquiries may be, the sciences, the useful 
arts, political economy, domestic economy, or such other matters as are 
best adapted to the wants, or inclinaiion, or employments of the mem- 
bers, and may vary according to times and circumstances. The more 
frequent topics, thus far, have been, the exact sciences, in their applica- 
tion to the arts and purposes of life; with others of a practical nature, 
and such as are profitable to persons of different classes and ages. 

"The reg-u?a/io7i5 of these associations aro few and simple, and re- 
semble those which are adopted in small benevolent eocieties. The 

7 



50 

officers are, usually, a President, Vice President, Treasurer, Record- 
ing Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, and — Managers, who, togeth- 
er, constitute a Board of Directors. 

"The exercises of the Lyceum, are, familiar lectures from men of edu- 
cation in the town, or from other members who investigate particular 
subjects for the occasion ; also, discussions and debates. In some small 
Lyceums, or in the classes into which the larger are divided for occa- 
sional purposes, the exercises are free conversation, v^ritten themes, re- 
citations, or mutual study. The lectures are sometimes procured at the 
expense of the Lyceums ; more frequently they are given by the mem- 
bers, and in this case, are always gratuitous. 

"The persons who associate are of any age, and from any class in 
society, sustaining a good character ; all who are in pursuit of knowl- 
edge, more particularly the young and middle aged. The system is 
specially adapted to teachers of every grade ; the more advanced pupils 
in the various schools, and enterprising young men already engaged in 
business, who have done with schools, but who thirst for more knowl- 
edge. Ladies are invited to be present at the lectures and discussions, 
not as active members, but to participate in the benefits. 

"The meetings are in the evenings, usually at intervals of one or two 
weeks ; but are, in most places, suspended during the busiest part of 
the summer season, 

" It is highly important to the efficiency of a village Lyceum, that 
its inquiries be aided by apparatus. The more simple and cheap kinds 
are procured. Early foundations have also been laid, for interesting 
collections of minerals and other cabinets of science. Many Lyceums 
have valuable libraries for the use of their members. In some instan- 
ces, these have been formed anew, and in others, a union has been ef- 
fected with social libraries, already existing : an arrangement which, it 
is believed, will be found profitable to both parties. 

" Associations, under the name of Lyceums, were first formed in the 
south part of the county of Worcester in the autumn of 1826 ; though 
some existed before on a similar principle, under other names. They 
have been gradually extending in this State to the present time. The 
number of town Lyceums reported at the public meeting was 78 ; in 
Suffolk county, 1 ; Essex, 14 ;* Middlesex, 16; Norfolk, 6 ; Plymouth, 4 ; 
Barnstable, 3 ; Nantucket,!; Bristol, 2; Worcester, 23; Hampshire, 
9; Hampden, 3; Franklin,! ; Berkshire, 2. The information received 
was incomplete, particularly in regard to the four western counties. — 
There are County Lyceums in Worcester, Middlesex, and Essex coun- 
ties. A county Lyceum is composed of delegates from such town Ly- 
ceums as choose to unite ; the union is formed for some purposes of 

* At present 18. * 



51 

common interest, and meetings are held once or twice a year. It is but 
an association of Lyceums, as a town Lyceum is of individual persons. 

"A Lyceum is easily formed in almost any country village or neigh- 
borhood. It requires two or three active, enterprising, matter-of-fact 
men, to collect their friends together, take hold of any topic of com- 
mon interest, adopt a few regulations, and go to work. There is noth- 
ing mysterious, nothing difficult, in the process, if the members have 
only a desire for knowledge and improvement, and each resolves to do 
his own part in suggesting topics, promoting investigations, and solving 
inquiries. The social principle is brought into active operation ; and 
where energy and promptness are the order of the day, a Lyceum be- 
comes a most profitable school of mutual instruction. 

"The advantages of this kind of association, where the experiment 
has been faithfully tried, are great and obvious; but they cannot here 
be named. The committee, however, can venture the assurance with 
perfect confidence, that the American Lyceum promises a very exten- 
sive difilision of practical and useful knowledge. Their beneficial in- 
fluence is soon manifest, in the improved character of schools and 
teachers, in the mental habits of all classes engaged in them, and in the 
elevation of the moral and social character. It would afford the com- 
mittee peculiar gratification, to be able to announce, at the close of the 
year, that every town in the Commonwealth has its Lyceum in full op- 
eration, and every populous neighborhood, its branch or class in con- 
nexion with the Lyceum of the town." 

In the County of Essex, public attention was not particularly drawn 
to the subject of Lyceums, till near the close of the year 1829, when a 
number of gentlemen, from different parts of the county, met at Tops- 
field, to consult together concerning the formation of a County Lyceum. 
At this meeting, it was judged proper to postpone the formation of such 
an institution, till Town Lyceums should be more generally introduced; 
and a committee was appointed to address a circular letter to gentle- 
men, in all parts of the county, setting forth the nature and importance 
of these institutions, and recommending the establishment of them in 
their respective towns. The committee was also authorized to fix upon 
the time for a meeting of delegates from such Town Lyceums as might 
be formed, and to prepare a constitution to be submitted to them, for 
the purpose of establishing a County Lyceum. 

At the time appointed by the committee, which was the 17th of 
March last, delegates from seventeen Town Lyceums assembled at 
Ipswich, and were organized as a County Lyceum, adopting the consti- 
tution, which the committee had prepared. According to this constitu- 
tion, the Essex County Lyceum is composed of delegates from the sev- 
eral Town Lyceums ; and its object is to advance the interests of these 



52 

local institutions, and promote the diffusion of useful knowledge through 
the county. The officers are a President, two Vice-Presidents, a 
Secretary, a Treasurer, and ten Curators, who together constitute a 
board of Managers. Semi-annual meetings are to be held in the months 
of May and November; the time and place to be determined by the board 
of Managers, at each of w^iich a public address is to be delivered, pre- 
vious to the commencement of business. 

Each delegation from the Town Lyceums, at these meetings, is to 
present "a written report of the condition and usefulness, proceedings 
and prospects, of the Town Lyceum which it represents. Such report 
to specify the methods of instruction adopted by the said Lyceum, the 
subjects of the lectures delivered, the questions debated, the number of 
meetings, the times and places of meeting, the number of tickets dis- 
posed of, and, in general, all such facts and circumstances, as may be 
interesting and useful." No delegation is to be recognised without 
Buch a written report. The secretary is "to compile from the reports 
of the delegations a general report, and circulate it to the Correspond- 
ing Secretaries of of the several Lyceums, to be communicated by them 
to the bodies to which they respectively belong." 

It is the duty of the Curators "to facilitate and provide for an inter- 
communication of lectures, and an interchange of civilities and accom- 
modations between the Town Lyceums." The constitution may be 
altered by a vote of two thirds of the members present at any semi- 
annual meeting, the alteration having been proposed at the semi-annual 
meeting next preceding. It was determined by the delegates that the 
meeting in May should be considered as the annual meeting ; and that 
an introductory Address should be delivered at the first annual meeting, 
to be held on the first Wednesday of iMay, at Ipswich. 

The circular letter of the Committee appointed to prepare the con- 
stitution, contained an able exposition of the circumstances which call 
for the institution of Lyceums, and the benefits which would result 
from them. 

"Every one who looks over the surface of our towns, (say the 
Committee) must be convinced that there are many minds among us, 
endowed by nature with brilliant faculties, and framed by their Creator 
for great usefulness and honor, which pass throuj^h their earthly ex- 
istence enveloped in the darkness of ignorance, and untouched by any 
springs of improvement ; without shedding light upon truth, without 
giving an .impulse to knowledge, and without offering a motive to 
virtue. 

" It is the opinion of the Committee that this lamentable waste of in- 
tellectual resaurces, of the treasures of mind, may to a great extent be 
prevented. They think that much might be done towards this end by 
the establishment of Lyceums in the several towns. Such institutions, 



63 

organized with a just and careful reference to the condition and circum- 
stances of the places in which they propose to conduct their operations, 
cannot fail, if supported with zeal and guided by discretion, to work 
out invaluable results. They will call forth latent talent, encourage a 
spirit of study and inquiry, and give a predominant relish for a purer 
and nobler kind of entertainment and recreation, than our people are at 
present accustomed to seek. It would not be long before it would be 
discovered that there is no amusement so worthy of our patronage, or, 
in itself, so conducive to our happiness, as that in which the curiosity 
of the intellect is awakened and gratified, and the mind exercised in 
the rational, invigorating and delightful employment of drinking in new 
and refreshing draughts of knowledge." 

" In our most populous towns there are many gentlemen whose pro- 
fessional pursuits and extensive attainments would enable them to dif- 
fuse among their fellow-citizens, in the form of popular lectures, infor- 
mation of the most valuable kind. The exercises at Lyceums would 
afford opportunity to industrious, ingenious, and intelligent individuals 
to spread far and wide throughout the community, knowledge which, 
by being buried in public libraries and in ponderous volumes, is at 
present accessible to a few only. There is no class in society that 
would not be benefited by the operation of these institutions." 

"The importance of scientific knowledge to persons engaged in the 
several mechanical and manufacturing trades, must be apparent to all. 
In the operations of their business, in the use of their materials, in the 
construction and action of their machinery, the principles of natural 
philosophy are to a greater or less extent continually unfolded and 
applied." 

"There is no class of men, who stand in greater need of instruction 
in science, or who could make a more effectual use of it, than the culti- 
vators of the soil. In the fields, which they are called to till, they 
would find occasion for all the information that can be obtained from 
agricultural chemistry; in their gardens and orchards they could make 
a most pleasing and profitable application of the knowledge of botany. 
An acquaintance with the principles of mechanics would facilitate the 
use, and quicken invention in the improvement, of their implements 
of labor. Indeed, from all the departments of natural science they 
could derive agreeable and useful information. It is impossible to 
conceive, much more to describe, the benefits which would result to the 
whole country, by the advancement that would be made in practical 
husbandry, in consequence of the wide and general diffusion among our 
agricultural population of the principles of useful science." 

"The attention of our intelligent, enterprising, and patriotic citizeni 
is at present prevailingly directed to the developement of the internal 
resources of the nation, by the means of surveys, canals, railroads, and 



54 

other improvements. The riches and strength of a free and civilized 
commonwealth consist chiefly in the well informed and well cultiva- 
ted minds of its citizens. The treasures that lie beneath the soil can- 
not be drawn forth and used to the best effect, neither can they be dis- 
covered, unless its surface is occupied by an enlightened and ingenious 
population. The internal improvement which philanthropists and pat- 
riots should strive most earnestly to promote, is the universal diffusion 
of the blessings of knowledge and science." 

" It cannot be doubted for a moment that there are many intelligent 
individuals, many who can appreciate the value of knowledge, in every 
town throughout the county. Let such individuals, however limited 
their present resources, however modest their pretensions, however 
small their number, associate themselves for the purpose of diffusing 
knowledge, and of mutual instruction; let them allure as many as they 
can to co-operate with them ; let them pursue their objects zealously 
and patiently, and, however unpromising the prospect may be at first, 
let them not despair. They will undoubtedly succeed in establishing 
an institution that will be a source of delightful entertainment and 
great improvement to themselves, which will spread light and knowl- 
edge around them, and operate with a sure and permanent influence 
in elevating the social, intellectual, and moral character of the commu- 
nity in which they dwell." 

Though this circular address has been widely spread through our 
community, these portions of it will not be unacceptable, and will im- 
press those, who have not read it, with a desire to peruse the whole. 
The appeal here made to those who may feel discouraged by unfavora- 
ble circumstances, from attempting the formation of a Lyceum, brings 
to recollection the example of Franklin ; which is calculated to inspire 
all such with resolution to commence and persevere in the work of 
mutual improvement, notwithstanding apparent obstacles. He formed 
a Lyceum, in effect, though not in name, under more difficult circum- 
stances than can be found, at the present day, in any of our towns. No 
one will doubt this, who has read the account of his arrival in Philadel- 
phia, at the age of seventeen, and his early efforts for the improvement 
of himself and others. " I began, says he, now to have some acquaint- 
ance among the young people of the town, that were lovers of reading, 
with whom I spent my evenings very pleasantly." At the age of 
twenty-one, he projected his little Lyceum, which led to the institution 
of the splendid Library of Philadelphia, and also of the American 
Philosophical Society. His simple account of his proceedings in this 
undertaking is exceedingly interesting, besides being appropriate to the 
subject of this Appendix ; it is, therefore, introduced here, in his own 
words. 



55 

" In the autumn of the preceding year, (1727) T had formed most of my 
ingenious acquaintance into a club for mutual improvement, which we 
called the Junto ; we met on Friday evenings. The rules that I drew 
up required that every member, in his turn, should produce one or more 
queries on any point of morals, politics, or natural philosophy, to be 
discussed by the company ; and once in three months produce and read 
an essay of his own writing, on any subject he plnased. Our debates 
were to be under the direction of a president, and to be conducted in 
the sincere spirit of inquiry after truth, without fondness for dispute, 
or desire of victory ; and to prevent warmth, all expressions o'f positive- 
ness in opinions, or direct contradictions, were after some time made 
contraband, and prohibited under small pecuniary penalties.* 

"The club was the best school of philosophy, morality, and politics, 
that then existed in the province ; for our queries (which were read the 
week preceding their discussion) put us upon reading with attention on 
the several subjects, that we might speak more to the purpose ; and 
here too we acquired better habits of conversation, every thing being 
studied in our rules which might prevent our disgusting each other; 
hence the long continuance of the club. 

"At the time I established myself in Pennsylvania, there was not a 
good bookseller's shop in any of the colonies to the southward of Bos- 
ton. In New-York and Philadelphia, the printers were indeed sta- 
tioners, but they sold only paper, &c., almanacs, ballads, and a few 
common school-books. Those who loved reading were obliged to send 
for their books from England ; the members of the junto had each a 



* Dr. Franklin's account of the members of this club is amusing. " The 
first members were Joseph Brientnal, a copyer of deeds for the scriveners ; 
a good natured, friendly, middle aged man, a great lover of poetry, reading 
all he could meet with, and writing som4 that was tolerable ; very ingenious 
in making little nicknackeries, and of sensible conversation. Thomas God- 
frey, a self-taught mathematician, great in his way, and afterwards inventor 
of what is now called Hndleys Quadrant. But he knew little out of his 
way, and was not a pleasing companion, as, like most great mathematician."* 
I have met with, he expected universal precision in every thing said, or was 
forever denying or distinguishing upon trifles, to the disturbance of all con- 
versation ; he soon left us. Nicholas Scull, a surveyor, afterwards surveyor- 
general, who loved hooks, and sometimes made a fnv verses. Williatn Par- 
sons, hred a shoemaker, hut loving reading, had acquired a considerabk 
share of mathematics, which he first studied with a view to astrology, and 
afterwards laughed at it ; he also became surveyor-general. William 
Maiigridge, joiner, hut a most exquisite mechanic, and a solid, sensible man. 
Hugh Meredith, Stephen Potts, and George Wehb, I have characterized ho- 
fore. Robert Grace, a young gentleman of some fortune, generous, lively, 
and witty; a lover of punning, and of his friends. Lastly, William Cole- 
man, then a merchant's ch-rk, about my age, who had the coolest, clearest 
head, the best heart, and the exactest morals of aluiost any man I ever tju;t 
with, lie became afterwards a merdimt of great note, and one of our pro- 
vincial judges. 0(u- friendship continued, without interruj)tion, to his death, 
upwards of forty years." 



56 

few. We had left the alehouse where we first met, and hired a room 
to hold our club in. I proposed that we should all of us bring our 
books to that room ; where they would not only be ready to consult in 
our conferences, but become a common benefit, each of us being at 
liberty to borrow such as he wished to read at home. This was 
accordingly done, and for some time contented us. Finding the advan- 
tage of this little collection, I proposed to render the benefit from the 
books more common, by commencing a public subscription library. I 
drew a sketch of the plan and rules that would be necessary. So few 
were the readers at that time in Philadelphia, and the majority of us so 
poor, that I was not able, with great industry, to find more than fifty 
persons (mostly young tradesmen) willing to pay down for this purpose 
forty shillings each, and ten shillings per annum ; with this little fund 
we began. The books were imported ; ihe library was open one day 
in the week for lending them to subscribers, on their promissory notes 
to pav double the value if not duly returned. The institution 
soon manifested its utility, was imitated by other towns, and in other 
provinces. The libraries were augmented by donations ; reading 
became fashionable; and our people having no public amusements to 
divert their attention from study, became better acquainted with books ; 
and in a few years were observed by strangers to be better instructed, 
and more intelligent than people of the same rank generally are in 
other countries. 

" This library afforded me the means of improvement by constant 
study ; for which I set apart an hour or two each day, and thus repaired 
in some degree the loss of the learned education my father once 
intended for me. Reading was the only amusement I allowed myself. 
I spent no time in taverns, games, or frolic of any kind, and my industry 
in my business continued as indefatigable as it was necessary. My 
original habits of frugality continuing, and my father having among his 
instructions to me when a boy, frequently repeated a proverb of Solo- 
mon, " Seest thou a man diligent in his calling, he shall stand before 
kings, he shall not stand before mean men,''^ 1 thence considered indus- 
try as a means of obtaining wealth and distinction, which encouraged 
me ; though I did not think that T should ever literally stand before 
kings, which however has since happened, for I have stood before five, 
and even had the honor of sitting down with one (the King of Den- 
mark) to dinner."* 

The late Dr. Smith, Provost of the University of Pennsylvania, in his 
discourse upon the death of Dr. Franklin, alludes to the Junto in a 
manner, which cannot but be interesting to the promoters of Lyceums. 
The questions, which he has selected from those discussed in that club, 

* Franklhi's Memoirs and Works, v. I . p. 62, 83, &c. 



67 

are curious as a sample of the diversity of their inquiries, and may still 
be interesting topics of discussion in our Lyceums. "This society," 
says Dr. Smith, " after having subsisted forty years, and having contri- 
buted to the formation of some very great men, besides Dr. Franklin 
himself, became at last the foundation of the American Philosophical 
Society, now assembled to pay the debt of gratitude to his memory. A 
book containing many of the questions discussed by the Junto was, on 
the formation of the American Philosophical Society, delivered into my 
hands, for the purpose of being digested, and in due time published 
among the transactions of that body. Many of the questions are curious 
and cautiously handled ; such as the following : 
How may the phenomena of vapors be explained ? 
Is self-interest the rudder that steers mankind ; the universal mon- 
arch to whom all are tributaries ? 

Which is the best form of government, and what was that form which 
first prevailed among mankind ? 

Can any one particular form suit all mankind ? 

What is the reason that the tides rise higher in the bay of Fundy, 
than in the bay of Delaware ? 

How may the possession of the lakes be improved to our advantage ? 
Why are tumultuous, uneasy sensations united with our desires ? 
Whether it ought to be the aim of philosophy to eradicate the pas- 
sions ? 

How may smoky chimneys be best cured ? 
Why does the flame of a candle tend upwards in a spire ? 
Which is least criminal, a had action joined with a good intention, or 
a good action with a bad intention.? 

Is it consistent with the principles of liberty in a free government, to 
punish a man as a libeller, when he speaks the truth ? 

These, and similar questions of a very mixed nature, being proposed 
in one evening, were generally discussed the succeeding evening, and 
the substance of the arguments entered in their books." 

Dr. Smith proceeds to enumerate the various institutions and public 
improvements introduced by Franklin, as the Library, the Academy 
and College, the Pennsylvania Hospital, Fire Companies, Plan for 
cleaning, lighting and ornamenting the streets, &c., all which " he pro- 
jected and saw established during the first twenty years of his resi- 
dence in the City."'^ 

What a contrast does Philadelphia now present, the abode of science, 
learning, taste, elegance, and refined enjoyment, to Philadelphia as first 
described by Franklin ! Much of this change is justly attributable to 

* It must be gratifying to the admirers of this truly great man, to find that 
so distinguished a divine as Dr. Smith, who was intimately acquainted with 
Dr. Franklin and who says he speaks of him from a full and experinieu- 
tal knowledge of his character, bears the foHowing testimony to the 
Beiiousness of his views, in the presence of those, too, who best knew iiini : 

s 



58 

his noble spirit of improvement, and the practice of those humble but 
exalting virtues, which are within the reach of every class of people, in 
all parts of our country. Never was there a louder call for the exercise 
of such virtues, for the study and imitation of such an example, than at 
the present time.* " The whole tenor of his life was a perpetual lecture 
against the idle, the extravagant, and the proud. It was his principal 
aim to inspire mankind with a love of industry, temperance and frugali- 
ty ; and to inculcate such duties as promote the important interests of 
humanity. He never wasted a moment of time, nor lavished a farthing 
of money, in folly or dissipation. His inquiries were spread over the 
whole face of nature, but the study of man seemed to be his highest de- 
light ; and, if his genius had any special bias, it lay in discovering those 
things that made men wiser and happier."f 

Let it be remembered, how great and extensive were the good influ- 
ences of his association for mutual improvement, his spirited Lyceum 
for the cultivation and diffusion of useful knowledge. Let such associ- 
ations be formed in every town, village, and hamlet in our community. 
There cannot but be found two or three persons, at least, in every 
place, conscious of intellect, and inspired with a love of virtue and a 
desire for improvement. Let such unite and set the example. If they 
can procure nothing more than Plutarch's Lives and Mather's Essays 
to do Good, to which Franklin acknowledged such obligations, and 
Paley's Natural Theology, Bigelow's Technology, Joyce's Scientific 
Dialogues, or any similar works, they will have sufficient stock to 
begin with in their united exercises for instructing themselves in 
moral, practical, and philosophical knowledge. If they are unable to 
obtain these, let them commence with the Journal of Education, a valu- 
able periodical, and the plain Scientific Tracts, now publishing by Mr. 

" He believed in Divine Revelation, and the beautiful analogy of history, sa- 
cred as well as profane. He believed that human knowledge, however im- 
proved and exalted, stood in need of illumination from on high ; and that 
the Divine Creator has not left mankind without such illumination, and 
evidence of himself, both internal and external, as may be necessary to their 
present and future happiness. Franklin felt and believed himself immortal !" 
The Works of WilLiam Smith, D.D., late Provost, ^c. v. 1, p. 80 of the 
Orations. 

* " If these pages should fall into the hands of any one, at an hour for the 
first time stolen from his needful rest after his day's work is done, I ask of 
him to reward me (who have written them for his benefit at the like hours) 
by saving three pence during the next fortnight, buying with it Franklin's 
Life, and reading the first page. I am quite sure he will read the rest ; I 
am almost quite sure he will resolve to spend his spare time and money in 
gaining those kinds of knowledge, which from a printer's boy made that 
great man the first philosopher, and one of the first statesmen of his age. 
Few are fitted by nature to go so far as he did, and it is not necessary to lead 
so perfectly abstemious a life, and to be so rigidly saving of every instant of 
time. But all may go a good way after him, both in temperance, industry 
and knowledge, and no one can tell before he tries how near he may be able 
to approach him." — Brougham's Practical Observations. 

t Memoirs, &c. v. 1, p. 510. 



59 

Holbrook, whose enlightened zeal in this cause gives a pledge that 
these will be fully worthy of their attention. As their numbers and 
means increase, they may extend their resources. The Library of 
Useful Knowledge, and other publications of the same society, men- 
tioned in a note to the preceding discourse, will afford them every va- 
riety of information, which they may desire, and the means of advanc- 
ing themselves in science to any degree of proficiency, that their incli- 
nation or ability may prompt them to attain. With these it would be 
well to take Walsh's National Gazette, which has done much to diffuse 
a healthful spirit of literature, as well as sound intelligence ; and to add 
to it, as they can, the more elaborate periodical works in literature and 
science. There is no section of our country, surely, where a sufficient 
number might not be found of those who value knowledge, to unite in 
procuring for their common improvement most of the works here men- 
tioned, the expense of which, apportioned among them, they could not 
feel. In the more populous places, books are already found, either in 
the hands of individuals, or in public or social libraries, in sufficient a- 
bundance for the immediate purposes of a Lyceum. Here, the first ef- 
forts may be made in bringing forth their contents to the light, and 
giving them circulation. An apparatus, for illustrating the sciences, 
will be an early object of attention, and ultimately a library of select 
works, as permanent means of improvement. In all the measures taken 
in establishing a Lyceum, the permanence of the institution should be 
kept in view. Having been demonstrated to be useful, in any instance, 
it must always be so, if properly conducted. There never can arise a 
generation of men, to whose minds the light of science and truth will 
not be propitious. The government has wisely enacted that Lyceums 
may form themselves into corporate bodies for the more convenient 
management of their property and other concerns.* Every facility is 
thus afforded for increasing and perpetuating the advantages for mutual 
instruction, which they may be enabled to obtain. Together with a 
Library, jVpparatus, &c., a suitable Building, containing rooms for their 
safe keeping ; and also a Hall specially adapted for the delivery and 
hearing of lectures, &c., and the exhibition of philosophical experiments, 
must be exceedingly desirable. It cannot be difficult to procure such a 
building where the members of the Lyceum are numerous, and where, 
of course, it would be most important. Arrangements for defraying 
the cost of it by annual instalments would render this the most eco- 
nomical, as well as most effectual way of providing the necessary ac- 
commodations for such an institution. The convenience of a public 
Hall, constructed with a special view to the purposes of a Lyceum, 
would be great in various respects, besides those already alluded to. 
The seats might not only be arranged in the best manner for seeing and 

* See statute passed March 4, 1829. 



60 

hearing the performances, but so numbered and assigned to indivic. 
members and families, that all might attend together, without confus , 
or embarrassment. The Hall would at all times, when not occup ■ 
by meetings of the Lyceum, be an attractive and suitable place for •' 
debates or literary exercises of any portion of the members, associat;.:;-; 
for the purpose of pursuing together any branch of knowledge or i '- 
ence, in which they might feel a particular interest. It is an exc 
lence of the Lj^ceum system, that it adapts itself to a greater or smai' r 
number of associates, for all general purposes of instruction. B:: 
where the number is large, separate classes, or sub-associations, may 
be necessary for their more effectual progress in mutual improvemerf. 
There are many young men, too diffident to appear before the public > 
any literary exercise, who might by free discussions in the presence ' 
each other, gradually prepare themselves for taking a part, with sal 
faction to themselves and others, in lectures or debates before t- 
whole society. In this manner large associations may enjoy at a ve . 
trifling expense, all the benefits of mutual instruction, together wit ; 
interesting public lectures and discussions, for the more general difi; 
sion of knowledge. 

The Lyceum system of instruction seems to be regarded by many -- 
a novelty ; but the novelty consists in the name and the extension 
the system, not in the system itself. Were it, however, anew i' 
stitution, the experiment might be ventured upon as perfectly sa r 
and harmless, if not certainly advantageous. Intelligent beings sure > 
can lose nothing by assembling together for the improvement of the 
minds ; and something, it should seem, must be gained from the exe 
cise of social feelings and the expression of thoughts and sentiments c: 
subjects of common interest. Much may be gained. In order to thi: , 
let those who associate to form a Lyceum, feel the importance of \.h y 
object, which has drawn them together. At all their meetings, let evei ^ 
member be disposed to contribute his share of effort for the commoj 
good, and exert a vigilant attention for his own benefit. Let tl- 
subjects discussed, and the thoughts and sentiments communicate ■ 
tli^-e, dwell in his mind after he retires to his home ; and let him is 
conversation impart them to others, and, by further reflection and ii. 
quiry, make them more familiar to himself. Let all do this, and muc;, 
will be done for their own improvement, and for spreading the spirit t * 
improvement in the community around them. An earnest desire fo 
knowledge and moral worth, and a determination to attain them wi 
accomplish every thing. Attention, industry, perseverance, and sel; • 
command are in the power of all; so, consequently, are knowledge . 
virtue, wisdom, and happiness. 




